The Great Wall Of India: Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan

Kumbhalgarh fort is a must go place in rajasthan. Kumbhalgarh fort has the longest wall in India having a 34 km length. It is the second great wall after china's. The birth place of Mahraja Rana Pratap the ruler of Mewar dynasty.
Way to Kumbhalgarh Fort- Kumbhalgarh is just around 86 km from Udaipur. You could get a taxi from udaipur that will get you to Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur (A beautiful jain temple) and drop you back at your hotel for 2000INR (according to your bargaining capacity). Which is actually a nice offer you shouldn't miss. The next option is local bus from udaipur and roadways( bus to ranakpur). But if you need to see both the places in one day and return back to your stay its going to be difficult. People ----------- Eventhough my generous hotel manager gave me an offer of 2000 rs taxi i rejected it respectfully. If you wish to have a real feel of rajasthan you should travel among the real rajasthanies. So i opted for the local private bus. Bus wasn't having much of a rush. By bus you will need almost 5hrs. You will be going through all the villages, stoping on all the stops which would appear in every 10 minutes or less. Village women wear saree in a way that it can be used as a veil too. Most of them wear beautiful hand worked red saree and having 9 to 10 number of white thick bangles around their biceps. Gents show their manly hood with big moustaches and they all have a turban. Even though they look tough i personally felt udaipur people as so caring and loving. If you ask for the route they will drop you there eventhough they are going in the other direction. Since i was the odd one in the bus everyone started talking to me asking name, where from, where to... When i told i am a solo traveller from kerala i could see a lot of amazed faces. They started offering food, started to ask how the other end of india is like and so on and on and i never felt the journey having a tiny bits of boredom. My bus slowly climbed all the way circling around mountains and barren land and reached Kelvada which is the last stop of my bus. You could get a 4x4 jeep from there itself for 200 rs to reach the famous kumbhalgarh fort. Fort -------- This might be the best fort i have ever seen. The view from here is breathtaking. You could feel clouds moving around you in a hand distance. It was the time of kumbhalgarh fest when i reached there. Different rajasthani programmes where connected during this time. Wall of the fort was already equipped with natives and foreigner's to get a sight of the rajasthani cultural fest. Even in the scorching heat of rajasthan, kumbhalgarh fort acts as a hawa mahal. The cold wind that blows over your face and the coolness of perspiration is so refreshing. Every corner of the fort is beautified with the open view of the city itself. With all those enormous view of the city and that thick wall of almost 50-70 cm, the fort was never conquered by the enemies. Food -------- Throughout the journey you might not find a big restaurant or hotel till you reach kumbhalgarh. My bus stoped after 2.5 hours of journey. Small snack and a stationary shop were the main attraction there. You could refill yourself with mouth watering rajasthani kachori and many other tasty foods. You won't be finding any other shop till your final destination. Near fort there are motels and restaurants and a small bakery inside the fort gate. Travel expenses -------------------------- Travel Expenses varies according to your mode of transport. If you chose for a cab you could have a combined trip of kumbhalgarh fort and Ranakpur costing you around 3000-4500(from udaipur). If you need to get a real feel of rajasthan opt for local transport in which you can complete your kumbhalgarh trip around 500-600. So plan your trip to seek the truth around you, to see that wonderful world we were missing, go far go hard go wild go... go while you can. Rajasthan...